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Young Voices at the Ballot Box YOUNG VOICES AT THE BALLOT BOX LOWERING THE VOTING AGE FOR LOCAL ELECTIONS IN 2017 AND BEYOND A White Paper from Generation Citizen (Version 2.0 – Jan. 2017) CONTENTS 03 Executive Summary 04 Why Should We Lower the Voting Age to 16? 08 Myths About Lowering the Voting Age 09 Current Landscape in the United States 11 Current Landscape Internationally 12 Legal Feasibility in the United States 13 Next Steps to Advance this Cause 16 Conclusion 17 Appendix A: Countries with Voting Age Less than 18 18 Appendix B: Legal Feasibility Study 32 Appendix C: Organizations and Stakeholders Supporting this Effort 33 Appendix D: Youth Advisory Board 34 Endnotes Young Voices at the Ballot Box: Advancing Efforts to Lower the Voting Age EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Most would agree that American democracy needs a Vote16USA’s launch, including the New York Times, Wall shot in the arm. Around 60 percent of eligible citizens Street Journal, Vox, and Rolling Stone. Most importantly, usually vote for president, fewer than 25 percent vote in the issue was put before voters for the first time as ballot most Mayoral elections, and public trust in government measures in San Francisco and Berkeley, California. is at an historic low. In Berkeley, 70 percent of voters voted yes to extend voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds for the city’s school board elections. The goal in San Francisco was WE NEED BOLD, INNOVATIVE more ambitious – lowering the voting age to 16 for all municipal elections. An early poll in April pegged SOLUTIONS TO SPARK the measure at 36 percent support, well below the PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS 50 percent threshold needed to pass. Typically, ballot measures that pass begin with approximately 60%, to AND ENSURE THAT ELECTED hold the inevitable backlash. OFFICIALS HONESTLY Over the next several months, however, youth leaders REPRESENT THE INTERESTS significantly swayed public opinion with a message focused on increasing voter turnout in the long run by OF THEIR CONSTITUENTS. ONE building habitual voters at a young age. Nearly every POSSIBILITY, WHICH HAS BEEN elected official in the city supported the campaign, and in November it ultimately earned over 172,000 votes to GAINING MOMENTUM AND finish just two percent shy of passing. DESERVES A PROMINENT PLACE The youth-led ballot measure campaigns in Berkeley IN THE ‘SOLUTION BANK,’ IS and San Francisco prove that lowering the local voting EXTENDING VOTING RIGHTS TO age is a viable policy solution that the public is ready to consider. These measures provide us a playbook for 16- AND 17-YEAR-OLDS IN LOCAL how to approach future campaigns in cities around the ELECTIONS. country. There is now more interest in this policy than ever, from youth, voters and state and local elected officials around the country. Youth activists and local elected officials have pursued The landscape around lowering the voting age has this idea in a number of cities for over a decade. changed dramatically since the 2015 publication of Takoma Park, Maryland broke through in 2013 as the Vote16USA’s first white paper, “Young Voices at the Ballot first American city to allow 16-year-olds to vote in local Box,” necessitating this update. This paper presents elections, and its neighbor Hyattsville followed suit in the same core research and arguments with updates to 2015. At the end of 2015, Generation Citizen launched reflect the past year’s progress. The paper also lays out the Vote16USA campaign to help support local efforts updated, concrete next steps to advance the cause, and and promote the idea nationally, hoping to serve as includes an updated legal feasibility study. a clearinghouse for those interested in, and already working on, the issue. In the 14 months since, despite the initial skepticism that many demonstrate over the idea, lowering the voting age has been solidified as a serious policy proposal worthy of mainstream consideration. More than 75 media outlets have covered the issue since Young Voices at the Ballot Box: Advancing Efforts to Lower the Voting Age 3 WHY SHOULD WE LOWER THE VOTING AGE TO 16? Often, at first glance, the idea of lowering the voting age focus more attention on effective civics education. to 16 provokes skepticism from the public. Why should When students are able to vote in local elections before we lower the voting age if so many 18-year-olds do not leaving high school, it becomes harder for districts to even vote in the first place? And aren’t 16-year- olds just ignore this crucial discipline. The high school classroom kids? is the ideal place to teach and engage young people about important local issues, and lowering the voting A longer glance reveals that extending voting rights age can inspire schools to take advantage of this to 16- and 17-year-olds in local elections is an opportunity. opportune and strategic way to strengthen our overall democracy. While further evaluation is needed to more This held true in San Francisco in 2016. The Board of comprehensively determine the potential effects of Education voted unanimously to endorse the Vote16SF lowering the voting age, research does exist, from this campaign, and simultaneously passed a resolution that country and others, to suggest that lowering the voting committed to bolstering the district’s civic education age can improve voter participation and overall civic curriculum to ensure 16- and 17-year-olds would be engagement, while the potential downsides are minimal. ready to approach the ballot if Prop F passed. As we call for lowering the voting age in local elections, REASON #1: WE NEED TO significant initiatives (including funding for civic learning ENCOURAGE EFFECTIVE AND in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and RELEVANT CIVIC LEARNING state mandates for a civics education class) are simultaneously underway to strengthen civics education Lowering the voting age on the local level can drive nationwide. These efforts naturally go hand in hand demand for effective civics education in schools, with the push to lower the voting age, and in tandem reviving a discipline that has been pushed to the side they have the potential to create a virtuous cycle that as schools focus on achieving accountability metrics in dramatically boosts civic engagement. Lowering the other subjects. voting age can catalyze demand for stronger civics education, which even further cultivates an engaged Enfranchising 16- and 17-year-olds, even in a limited and active citizenry. capacity, has the power to invigorate civics education in high schools. In all subjects, students learn best Research shows that people who attend high schools when the material presented is relevant to their lives. with a strong culture of civic engagement have higher But, for many students, it can be difficult to feel a turnout rates in their 30’s, regardless of their individual 2 connection between the political process described in opinions on the importance of voting. Expanding voting textbooks and the issues that affect them every day. to 16- and 17-year-olds can inspire both students and Civics class risks falling short by teaching young people schools to renew their focus on civics, creating the how government works without any ability to actually potential for long- lasting, positive societal impact. participate in it. This disconnect may provide one of the reasons that Americans struggle at understanding how REASON #2: WE NEED TO MAKE our government works. For example, only approximately one third of American adults can name the three VOTING A HABIT branches of government, and a third can’t even name Government performs best with strong participation a single branch.1 Letting 16- and 17-year-olds vote will from the public, and the best way citizens can bring much-needed relevance to civics classes, which participate in government is by voting. Lowering the can help address this lack of civic knowledge amongst voting age can lead to a long-term increase in voter the public. turnout, bringing more citizens in touch with their In addition to motivating students to engage with civics government and pushing the government to better serve classes, lowering the voting age can lead schools to its people. Increased turnout is especially important in local elections, where turnout has been plummeting in Young Voices at the Ballot Box: Advancing Efforts to Lower the Voting Age 4 WHY SHOULD WE LOWER THE VOTING AGE TO 16? recent years and some cities are struggling to get even Furthermore, research indicates that voting in one 20 percent of voters to the polls.3 election can increase the probability that a person will vote in the next election by over 50 percent, and First and foremost, voting is a habit—a path-dependent shows that early voting experiences are an important process—and a person’s first election is critical to determinant of future voting behavior.8 Young people 4 establishing that habit. Evidence from Takoma Park, start forming voting habits when they reach the voting Maryland, and European countries that have lowered age and confront their first election. the voting age supports the argument that the age of 16 is a better time to start the habit of voting than 18. While some Americans vote in the first election they are eligible for and become habitual voters, the majority In Takoma Park, the turnout rate for 16- and 17-year- of the electorate does not vote upon initial eligibility. olds exceeded any other demographic in the city’s 2013 Statistically, these individuals become habitual 5 elections. Evidence from Europe is also favorable. nonvoters for at least the next few elections, until they Austria lowered its voting age to 16 for all of the pick up the habit later in life.
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